Research by the Poverty Alliance has found an 11 per cent gap in voter turnout between the richest and poorest constituencies.
A voter placing a ballot paper in the ballot box.
Campaigners say tens of thousands of low-income Scots risk being “disenfranchised by deprivation” in May’s Holyrood election. Research by the Poverty Alliance has found an 11 per cent gap in voter turnout between the richest and poorest constituencies in Scotland in an alarming “democratic deficit”.
The charity is urging politicians to close the gap by supporting community get-out-the-vote campaigns – and delivering on policies that lift people out of poverty. One woman from a low income background told the Sunday Mail she was “really struggling to pick the best of a bad bunch” in the vote on May 7.
Linda Craik, 60, a member of the grassroots End Poverty Edinburgh group, said: “I’m one of those folk who always votes, firstly because people fought damn hard to make sure I got the vote. Secondly, because I believe if you can’t be bothered to vote then you have no right to complain when the politicians mess it all up.
Linda Craik from Edinburgh who is scunnered with politicians
“But I am very disillusioned by all the political parties at the moment, and not just from the perspective of what they’re doing about poverty.”
The research found that in 2021 the average turnout in the 10 least deprived seats was 68 per cent. In the 10 most deprived constituencies it was just 57 per cent – a gap of more than 60,300 voters.
The biggest democratic deficit found was between Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn with a turnout of 52 per cent compared with a 76 per cent turnout in Eastwood in nearby East Renfrewshire.
Poverty Alliance chief executive Peter Kelly said: “Our democracy can only work when politicians listen and act on people’s priorities. When that doesn’t happen, people lose trust in the system and simply stop participating.
“For years people in Scotland have put issues around the cost of living and the economy near the top of their political priorities. But lack of fundamental change has led to a democratic deficit, with people in areas of higher deprivation losing faith in the process more quickly.”
Peter Kelly, chief executive of the Poverty Alliance, said many Scots did not feel listened to by politicians (Image: Tony Nicoletti/Daily Record)
Kelly, whose charity boasts 450 member groups across Scotland, added: “We regularly work with people struggling on low incomes. They are often highly political, with strong views about what is needed in their communities, in our society, and in our unjust economy.
“But they increasingly feel disenfranchised from a political process that is failing to address deprivation, poverty, and inequality. That has to change.”
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The Poverty Alliance manifesto calls for progress towards a Minimum Income Guarantee – which would give everyone the right to an income that never falls below what is needed for life’s essentials. The policy would be delivered through a combination of fair paid work, high quality services, and strengthened social security.
The charity says new MSPs can commit to piloting the approach among unpaid carers and in rural areas.
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